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Susan Best  The HIV/AIDS epidemic has presented a daunting challenge to churches across the world. Different churches have responded to the varying needs of AIDS-affected regions. Here is a small sample of some of the wonderful work being done around the globe by churches committed to combating HIV/AIDS.
The World Council of ChurchesThe World Council of Churches (WCC), which represents almost all Christian traditions, has been actively supporting community initiatives in every region, developing policy, producing educational and study resources, participating in international forums on HIV/AIDS, and offering direct assistance to churches developing strategies to combat HIV/AIDS since the 1980s. The WCC reminds its members of the vital role faith-based organisations play in the fight against HIV/AIDS, due to their close links with communities and their capacity to address the spiritual needs of people affected by the disease. In particular it has called on faith-based organisations around the world to promote equity to: reduce the vulnerability of women and children; to offer resources so that those affected might receive the highest possible level of care, respect, love and solidarity; to raise the consciousness of its members; and to advocate for the rights of those affected regardless of income, ethnicity, and gender.
AfricaThe HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa, among the worst affected regions, is nothing less than tragic. Widespread in the general community, many children are either born with HIV or orphaned to it. In a region in which many are already living in poverty and with political unrest, the job of establishing prevention strategies and providing education is particularly difficult. The WCC has led groundbreaking ecumenical initiatives in Africa; many Christian overseas aid organisations assist stricken communities. Meanwhile, the Catholic Information Service for Africa, in Nairobi, recently reported that Protestant leaders have vowed to ramp up the fight against discrimination of those suffering AIDS in Kenya, by hosting a workshop, organised by the National Council of Churches of Kenya and Christian Aid, for some 60 senior clerics. Uniting Church Overseas Aid (UCOA) supports the Orphans and Vulnerable Children Project in Zambia in sub-Saharan Africa, an area Rev Dr Sam Kobia, director of the WCC, said was suffering an HIV/AIDS plague of “genocidal proportions”. The project assists sick and orphaned children in a variety of ways and provides education; is no easy task in a population whose traditional beliefs contribute to the spread of the virus. In this plea we can hear God’s own call to move beyond the ignorance, judgement and fear this deadly virus so readily evokes and to instead respond only with understanding and love. Australia and the PacificWhile Australia has enjoyed one of the lowest rates of HIV/AIDS infections in the world, criticism is now being voiced over what has been termed “delays and inertia” regarding the rising domestic threat. On 10 June, The Australian newspaper reported that health and community workers have called on the Rudd government to acknowledge the rise in HIV infections in Australia. With new data suggesting that infection rates could climb by up to 75% in some parts of the nation, it may be time for Australian churches to step up activism and advocacy on the home front. To date many churches have focused on supporting the work of our less fortunate neighbouring brothers and sisters in the Pacific. Uniting Church Overseas Aid, together with AusAID, currently works with Partner Churches on projects such as the funding of the Reverend Jacob Bogaperry’s position posted to promote HIV/AIDS education in Port Moresby, a counselling centre in PNG, the funding of a new position for a HIV/AIDS Coordinator that was established in Vanuatu last year and support of the World Aids Day program at Helena Goldie Hospital in Vanuatu. UCOA is also supporting an increased focus on community education in the Solomon Islands in the hope of avoiding the kind of epidemic seen in PNG. These are just some of the ways the Uniting Church is contributing to the fight against HIV/AIDS in the Pacific. The United StatesThe US is where the fight against HIV/AIDS began when its first victims started dying from what was then a mystery ailment. Saddleback Church, California, hosts an annual Global Summit on "AIDS and the church", as well as a special youth summit on World AIDS Day, and a range of educational initiatives. It also co-ordinates volunteers and a student HIV/AIDS ministry. Saddleback is an example of the kind of church-leadership making a difference in American communities. The Presbyterian Church (USA) has, through its International AIDS Ministries work with its partners in Africa, made an impressive and multi-faceted contribution to the work being done there.
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